Writing Code Is More Like Being a DJ
While we’re on the topic of appropriate analogies for software development, my homie Micah writes a post about how certain analogies fall short, and he compares writing software to being an artist.
Read MoreEnabling Distributed Rollbacks With NUnit and MbUnit
In some of my projects, I take a less purist approach to unit testing in that I allow unit tests to touch the database. In order to “reset” the database to the state it was in prior to the test, the code enlists COM+ 1.5 transactions via the [RollBack] attribute in MbUnit (there’s also one for NUnit).
Read MoreWhat I Will Be Reading In 2006
Thanks to the generosity of my folks, I’ll be reading the following books. If you were planning (or want to) read them as well, click on the images below.
Read MoreSeasons Greetings To Y'all
My parents are downstairs watching basktetball, my brother will arrive here tonight around 8PM, I’m wrapping a gift for my wife, and my coffee downstairs is getting cold.
Read MoreA New Blogger In Town
My good friend Micah finally started a blog. He is the CEO of my company, VelocIT, which makes him a business partner as well as a friend.
Read MoreMapPoint Uploads with Zip and Chunking
As I recently said, you have to be a bit MacGuyver to be a successful consultant. I’ve also whined about how difficult hiring is, especially when you want to hire MacGuyver. But then there are times where you work with someone who makes MacGuyver look positively clueless.
Read MoreYa Gotta Be a Bit MacGuyver
I’ve learned a valuable lesson recently. To be successful as a technology consultant, it isn’t enough to just be able to hit the high notes. You’ve gotta be able to hit the middle notes too. You have to channel a bit of MacGuyver inside.
Read MoreIt's a Love Fest At The WWW Creator's Blog
Sir Tim Berners-Lee starts a blog and it’s a veritable love fest in his comments section.
Read MoreHiring Is Challenging
Hiring good developers is challenging. There’s a small bit of science and a lot of art. Even when a hire is brilliant, he or she might not work out. When hiring, you don’t just want a list of experiences, technologies and languages… You want a person who exemplifies being a self-starter (rather than just listing it as a buzzword on the resumé) who is also smart and can get things done. You’re hiring a personality as much as a liste of skills and experiences.
Read MoreVideo: Amazing Soccer Juggling
Just
browsing around and saw this
video of the most amazing soccer
juggling skills ever. Yes, that is a screenshot of the guy jump-roping
while juggling a soccer ball on his head.
TestDriven.NET a Virus?
Windows OneCare Live Beta reports that TestDriven.NET is a virus. Anyone else run into that?
Read MoreMan Accidentally Dates Mother Online
Men who engage in online relationships in chatrooms and such are constantly suspicious that the person on the other end is not who they say they are. Often the vision of another middle-aged man looking for action is envisioned. That would’ve been a welcome relief for the guy in this news story.
Read MorePicture of the Day - Metro Entrance Bilbao, Spain
Keeping Your CVS Branches In Synch
I can’t believe I didn’t notice this when he first published it (I only
saw an internal email on it), but Steve
Harman wrote this excellent guide to
branching
with CVS, complete with an easy to follow diagram.
Using TextBoxes as Labels
In this post, I plan to give out some rough code I hope you find useful. But first, an introduction. Occasionally, in the search to compress more into less space, web designers will create a form in which the text inputs double as labels. For example, this is a login control I wrote for a recent project.
Read MoreWho Is The Master?
Rough Start to the Day
This morning I woke up with visions of sugar code dancing in my head. It is a coding day and I was ready to sling it, only to be bowled over in stomach pain. Not sure what it was, but it was very unpleasant and wasn’t accompanied by any other symptoms like gas or otherwise.
Read MoreAwesome Christmas Lights Video
These
days I tend to find the holidays more a burden than something to look
forward to. However with my family visiting us this year, I am quite
excited. Maybe I’ll put up some lights like this
display.
The screenshot doesn’t do the video justice. It has to be seen.
Unit Tests Do Cost More To Write...
One common objection I hear to TDD and writing unit tests is that it creates a lot of extra work to develop software. And this is true, but it does not give a complete picture. TDD and writing and maintaining unit tests do take discipline and do increase the time (thus cost) of writing code. No doubt about it. However, this cost reflects the true cost of writing quality code and lowers the total cost of developing and maintaining software.
Read MoreGreatness
Wesner
writes
that
a couple of readers criticized him for his desire to aspire for
greatness. Well obviously Wesner, you should aspire for mediocrity! In
any case, one reader comments,